Door check assemblies



May 20, 1969 CLARKE ETAL noon CHECK ASSEMBLIES Sheet Filfld Oct. 21. 1966 R RE m AL m7 Wm @M A v,

Sheet of 2 Filed Oct. 21. 1966 DENNIS CLARKE TOIVVJ FOWLER Inventor's Attorneys United States Patent 3,445,132 DOOR CHECK ASSEMBLIES Dennis Clarke, Romford, and Tony J. Fowler, Hockley, England, assignors to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MiclL, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 588,503 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 5, 1966, 9,752/ 66 Int. Cl. E05c 17/44; E05d 11/10 US. Cl. 292338 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door check assembly in which a single check arm is eifective to hold the arm in either of two door open positions. In the first door open position the end of the check arm is spring biased between two abutments to hold the door in this position. In the second door open position, the arm is biased against a further abutment to hold the door in the second opened position. The construction and arrangement permits a cargo door on a van body to be opened approximately 180 if desired. At the same time the conventional 90 door check function is retained.

The invention relates to door check assemblies.

It is usual for pivoted doors at the rear of commercial vehicles to be supplied with a door check assembly which holds the door open at approximately a right angle when the door has been opened to this position. When such a commercial vehicle is being loaded from a load platform at the same level as the floor of the commercial vehicle, pivoted doors which are open at a right angle prevent the vehicle from being parked in a position in which the floor of the vehicle is close to the load platform. This makes loading of this kind of vehicle difiicult. This difliculty can be overcome by arranging a second position to which the doors can be opened at approximately two right angles. Instead of extending straight back, the doors would then extend out sideways and would not prevent the vehicle from being backed up to the load platform.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a door check assembly to accommodate a two position door as described above. A door check assembly which is for holding a pivoted vehicle door in either of two open postions has all the following features in combination:

(a) A check arm is pivoted in the vehicle body near the door pivot and is spring biased towards the door.

(b) The door carries a pair of abutment surfaces against which the check arm engages in the first open position of the door to hold the door in the first open position.

(c) The door carries a further abutment surface 29 against which the check arm engages in the second open position to prevent the door from closing from the second open position.

The invention is particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a door check assembly according to the invention showing the closed and both open positions of the door and FIG. 2 is a side view of the arrangement of FIG. 1 showing only some of the components shown in FIG. 1.

The rear of a commercial vehicle body 11 is closed by a pivotable door 12 which pivots about a vertical axis 13. Only a small portion of the body 11 and of the door 12 in the region of the door pivot are shown. The parts of the body shown are formed from welded steel pressings. The door includes an outer panel 14 and an inner panel 15 which are joined together by a welded seam 16. A check plate 17 is bolted by 3 bolts to the inner panel 15. One of ice the bolts 18 passes through a countersunk hole in that part of the check plate which extends across the width of the door. The two other bolts 19 (only one of which is shown) pass through apertures in lugs 21 which extend one above and one below the main part of the check plate. The check plate 17 has a contoured surface 22 against which the outer end of a check arm 23 engages when the door is open. This contoured surface 22 lies between two spaced surfaces 24 which extend out beyond the contoured surface and serves as a guide to prevent the check arm 23 from slipping above or below the contoured surface of the check plate.

The contoured surface 22 includes two abutments 25 and 26 between which the check arm 23 engages when the door is open at a right angle. This is the first open position shown by reference I in FIG. 1. The check arm 23 is spring biased into its position between the abutments 25 and 26 as will be explained below. The shape of the outer end 27 of the check arm in conjunction with the shape of the abutment 26 provides a positive stop to further opening of the door. This is because the abutment 26 hooks behind the end 27 of the check arm. In contrast, the abutment 25 is so inclined that when a substantial force is applied to the door in the closing direction the check arm is forced out of its position between the abutments 25 and 26 and the door can be closed.

The check arm 23 includes a finger grip 28 by means of which the outer end 27 of the check arm can be pulled out from the position between the abutment 25 and 26. When the check arm is pulled out in this way, the door can be opened beyond the first open position to a second open position II shown in FIG. 1. In this second open position the door is open at substantially two right angles. In this second open position the check arm 23 is spring biased against a further abutment surface 29 of the con toured surface of the check plate. This abutment surface 29 extends across the width of the door from the inside towards the outside at the edge of the door near the pivot. This engagement of the check arm 23 with the abutment surface 29 of the contoured surface tends to prevent the door from closing from the second open position. Two rubber stops 31 and 32 on the door and the body respectively prevent the door from being opened beyond the sec ond open position. In an arrangement where there is sufficient space between the body and the inner edge of the door the surface 29 and the rubber stops 31 and 32 could be replaced by a contoured surface providing two abutments corresponding in shape to the abutments 25 and 26. In such a case, in the second open position the abutment corresponding to 26 would be a positive stop preventing the door from opening further and the abutment 25 would require a substantial force to be used to close the door from the second open position. In the arrangement as shown the force required to close the door from the second open position is substantially less than the force required to close it from the first open position. This situation is a compromise because the door check assembly is to be used on existing commercial vehicles where there is very little space between the inner edge of the door and the body, as can be seen from the closed position of the door in FIG. 1.

The check arm 23 is constructed from spring steel wire. Its outer end 27 and finger grip 28 are formed to the shape required for the functions which have already been explained. There is a bend 35 in the check arm which prevents it from coming into contact with the body when the door is in the second open position and which also enables the outer end of the check arm to take up a position within the thickness of the door when the door is closed.

The mounting and spring biasing of the check arm 23 can be seen from FIG. 2. At its inner end the wire forming the check arm is bent up at a right angle and passes through a bushing 36 which is mounted by means of a clamp 37 and a nut and bolt assembly 38 on the vehicle body. The upward extending portion 39 of the wire constitutes a torsion bar which provides the spring bias for the check arm. The over-all length of the torsion bar is of the order of 3 ft. At its upper end the torsion bar is bent over through a right angle to enable it to be anchored against rotation. The upper end of the torsion bar is mounted on the body by two brackets 41 and 42.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A door check assembly for holding a vehicle door pivotally mounted on a vehicle body in either of two opening positions, comprising, in combination:

a check arm pivotally mounted on the vehicle body near the door pivot;

a pair of abutment surfaces on the door against which the check arm engages to hold the door in a first opened position which is at approximately a right angle to its closed position,

one of said pair of abutment surfaces being a positive stop engageable by the check arm to prevent the door from opening beyond the first opened position,

and the other of said pair of abutment surfaces inhibits closing movement of the door unless substantial force is applied thereto;

a further abutment surface against which the check arm engages in a second opened position to prevent the door from closing from said second opened position,

said second opened position of the door being at approximately two right angles to its closed position;

a torsion spring biases the check arm toward the door;

and the check arm carries a finger grip to enable the check arm to be pulled out of engagement with said positive stop on said pair of abutment surfaces to allow the door to be opened beyond the first opened position.

2. A door check assembly as claimed in claim 1, in

which:

in the second opened position an end of the check arm and the further abutment surface coact to require the application of substantial force on the door to close the latter from the second opened position.

3. A door check assembly according to claim 2 in which:

the pair of abutment surfaces and the further abutment surface are formed on a single check plate secured to the door.

4. A door check assembly according to claim 3, in

which:

(a) part of the check plate lies against the inside surface of the door and carries the pair of abutment surfaces, and

(b) another part of the check plate extends across the thickness of the door from the inside toward the outside of the door and constitutes the further abutment surface.

5. A door check assembly for holding a vehicle door pivotally mounted on a vehicle body in either of two opening positions, comprising, in combination:

a check arm pivotally mounted on the vehicle body near the door pivot;

a pair of abutment surfaces on the door against which the check arm engages to hold the door in a first opened position,

One of said pair of abutment surfaces being a positive stop engageable by the check arm to prevent the door from opening beyond the first opened position,

and the other of said pair of abutment surfaces inhibits closing movement of the door without the application of substantial force thereto;

a further abutment surface against which the check arm engages in a second opened position to prevent the door from closing from said second opened position;

and the check arm carries a finger grip to enable the check arm to be pulled out of engagement with said positive stop on said pair of abutment surfaces to allow the door to be opened beyond the first opened position.

6. A door check assembly according to claim 5, in

which:

the pair of abutment surfaces and the further abutment surface are formed on a single check plate secured to the door,

(a) part of the check plate lies against the inside surface of the door and carries the pair of abutment surfaces, and

(b) another part of the check plate extends across the thickness of the door from the inside of the door toward the outside of the door and constitutes the further abutment surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,870,477 1/1959 Anthony 1685 3,000,044 9/1961 Allen 292-278 X 3,066,349 12/1962 Youngdale 16-163 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

E. I. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 16-145, 163 

